Saturday, March 23, 2019

That Sound You Hear Is That Of Moving Goalposts

Remember when the Mueller investigation was going to end the Trump presidency?  Remember when, if it didn't find evidence he colluded with Russians to win the presidency--as if Vladimir Putin has the keys to the White House--his financial misdealings, including money laundering, was going to end his presidency?  Remember when, if it didn't find evidence of financial misdealings, his children and son-in-law were going to be caught for crimes?

Mueller's report was dropped on a Friday evening during March Madness--and that's not done when there's big news to be had.

In other words, it was a big nothingburger.  And mark my words, we're now going to be told how it was never a big deal anyway, how Trump is still somehow a criminal, blah blah blah.  The entire report must be released to the public, no redactions at all, or else it's not legitimate.  Lefties truly are sore losers--which is why they made this whole thing up in the first place, because their candidate, the Dowager Duchess of Chappaqua, lost the election.

Relatively unreported, except by moderately conservative outlets fairly recently, has been the extent to which bad players in the FBI and DOJ conspired to remove a lawfully-elected president whose only crime is that he beat Hillary Clinton fair and square in an election.  Yes, most of the press were complicit in this, but their involvement, while reprehensible, doesn't rise to the level of criminality.  Those so-called Deep State players within our own government, though--those involved in the Steele Dossier, those involved in using fake evidence to get FISA warrants for wiretaps--they need to go to jail.

Now that we've reached the end of the beginning of this attempted coup, here's as good a synopsis as any:
With only a few exceptions — Fox News, the editorial pages (not the front pages) of the Wall Street Journal, and a handful of websites — the better part of the American media has spent the last two years fulminating about Trump-Russia collusion we now know never existed.

Actually, we always knew that, but finally, it's official. It was always a bunch of — excuse the expression — trumped up baloney that made no sense except to those who wished so deeply to believe it was true.

Which makes the people who were doing that fulminating — media, politicians and (usually retired) intelligence figures, who were, as is becoming increasingly clear, betraying the American Constitutional system with impunity — sick and evil.
Update, 3/24/19: Here's is text from the Attorney General's letter to congressional leaders regarding the Mueller report:
The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated wityh it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. As the report states: "[T]he investigation did not establish that mebers of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities"...But as noted above, the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts, despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump Campaign.
And then, on the topic of presidential misconduct regarding obstruction of justice:
After making a "thorough factual investigation" into these matters, the Special Counsel considered whether to evaluate the conduct under Department standards governing prosecution and declination decisions but ultimately determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment...After reviewing the Special Counsel's final report on these issues; consulting with Department officials, including the Office of Legal Counsel; and applying the principles of federal prosecution that guide our charging decisions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense. Our determination was made without regard to, and is not based on, the constitutional considerations that surround the indictment and criminal prosecution of a sitting president.

In making this determination, we noted that the Special Counsel recognized that "the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference," and that, while not determinative, the absence of such evidence bears upon the President's intent with respect to obstruction.
The Attorney General then addressed legal requirements about making the report public:
Separately, I also must identify any information that could impact other ongoing matters, including those that the Special Counsel has referred to other offices.  As soon as that process is complete, I will be in a position to move forward expeditiously in determining what can be released in light of applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies.
The president was unjustly accused by rogue elements of the FBI and DOJ, in concert with a willing press as well as Hillary Clinton's losing campaign, and appointed a special counsel to investigate himself and his campaign.  The special counsel filled his team with Democrats--and still they came up with nothing.

A pretty good summary:
Hands up, don't shoot. Trump's a Russian spy. Kavanaugh ran a secret gang rape cartel. Covington kids assaulted a vet. Never forget that these lies--and yes, they were outright lies--were deliberately peddled by all the same people for all the same reasons.

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